Jacobson, Oakden earn junior final rematch

WASAGAMING — Jaxon Jacobson has enjoyed his front-row seat to watch Manitoba’s top junior golfers compete at Clear Lake Golf Course all week.

While it’s more during the Brandon Wheat Kings off-season for the lefty, he’s right there with them.

Jacobson beat Soren Milne 4 and 3 in the Tamarack golf tournament junior semifinals on Thursday, setting up a rematch of the 2025 final with defending champion Hunter Oakden.

“It was fun. I enjoyed playing with Soren, Hunter and Brayden (Hamm),” Jacobson said. “It’s always fun to have a nice, friendly game; I wish we could have made a couple more birdies out there, but sometimes it happens.

“The other match, they’ve been firing today, made a lot of birdies, so it was fun to watch.”

Jacobson posted 75 in qualifying to take the No. 2 seed, while playing alongside Oakden (68), Hamm (76) and Jewel Lafleche (78).

He noticed the way they approach the game starts well before they hit the first tee shot.

“They’ve all got a routine and before the round they hit their putts and chips and I’m just there feeling it out,” Jacobson chuckled. “They have a routine and it’s fun to see and definitely something I want to add into my game.

“The key to every game you play is your preparation. You can get lucky some games, get away with not preparing well, but with golf, consistently playing well, you’ve got to prepare the same way every time.”

Jacobson led 3 up at one point on Thursday, but missed a short putt that would have made it four on the ninth hole. He gave away a few to let Milne back in.

However, Jacobson handled a long wait in the 13th fairway before a massive long-iron shot from 250 yards to 20 feet, setting up the first of back-to-back two-putt birdies on the par-5s.

Jacobson comfortably made par on the 15th hole to end the match early.

In the meantime, Oakden and Hamm put on a clinic before Oakden won 3 and 2.

After Hamm won the first hole with a par, one of the two either birdied or eagled the next nine holes for a best-ball score of 10-under 26 on the front nine.

“It was a lot of fun. We swapped eagles on the par 5s, we were rolling it nice and it was fun,” said Oakden, who calmly came back from 2 down after six to win the next four holes.

“I wasn’t too worried because on the back nine I tend to play well and usually make a couple more birdies than I did.”

Hamm trailed by four with five to play, but birdied the next two holes to keep it close.

However, he hooked his tee shot on the drivable 16th hole way left and was unable to save par.

Oakden took a conservative approach to his qualifying round, not hitting driver until his 13th hole of the day. But he knows that could give Jacobson a chance to leave him in the dust.

He tried a more aggressive approach against Hamm, and it worked.

“I amped it up,” Oakden said. “Instead of irons, I took a couple more mini drivers and tried to push it up the fairway a bit so I wasn’t laying myself back.”

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The master’s men’s semifinals tee off today at 7:54 a.m., with Darren Graves facing Murray Lindenberg and Dale Murray taking on Jack McDiarmid.

The senior men’s semifinals start at 9:06 a.m., featuring George Panagiotou and Eugene Hodgson, and Glen Parker and Larrie Kidd.

The ladies’ scramble semifinals start at 2:18 p.m., with defending champs Jayne Troop and Jody Bieber playing Nadine Falk and Rhonda Ritchie, and Tia Coulter and Alexa Hutsal facing Dorelle Fulton and Kandis Matthews.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com